This invention is a further improvement of the inventions set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,517 and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/566,677 and relates to a unit that replaces a conventional switch or plug receptacle for controlling any electrical load, such as a light fixture or appliance, in response to a power failure.
Frequently, homes, offices, and industrial plant facilities experience many types of emergency situations involving power failures where an interior or exterior area has no light. The power failures may be caused by electrical short circuits, brownouts, fire, accidents, natural disasters (i.e., floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.), or a planned shutoff of electricity to a facility or dwelling. As a result of these emergencies, most facilities, and especially residential homes, do not have emergency generators to provide lighting, or they only have emergency lighting in the form of portable light sources, such as flashlights.
A need exists for a simple and easily installable wireless emergency light source which includes a fixedly-attached housing for replacement of standard switch plates and plug receptacles and which activates itself in response to a power failure of any kind.